Tenshi ni Naru-mon!

—by Eric "Scanner" Luce

Anime covers a very wide selection of genres, from very serious "doom and gloom" anime complete with end of the world plots (even if some of them have very amusing character designs.) to relationship stories filled with angst (although we almost always know who is supposed to end up with whom.) to the silly and cute anime.
This last genre covers a wide range in itself. Usually these stories are based upon some other plot such as a relationship(s) or an end of the world scenario. Frequently they just throw in odd, silly and cute elements to make the story appealing to one demographic or another. As such they tend to have little to hold one's interest outside of that demographic. But every now and then there is something a bit more special or different that deserves note. TENSHI NI NARU MON! ("I'LL BECOME AN ANGEL!") is one such show.
Within seconds of the beginning of the opening song, the show is immediately recognizable as cute and silly. From the rubber cheeks to the happily bouncing and swaying house you feel that you know what the level of the series will be. Many who cannot stand super-cute anime will probably turn it off right then. Others may be curious to see how far the series can go. And by the end of the first episode many viewers are probably still wondering about that.
The basic premise of the series revolves around our Yuusuke. His father is off on an extended business trip and apparently has no mother (did this ever happen to anyone you know in high school?) So he is living alone in a house. On his way to school he comes across a girl laying naked, except for a halo. No, we see nothing but her face. Through events he accidentally falls on her, kissing her. She wakes up, happily smiles at him, and proclaims him her husband ("muko-san," which is usually the word used when the male marries into a family.) Being totally flustered at her state and her assertion, Yuusuke quickly hops on his bike and flees to school.
However his flight proves useless as Noelle (the girl with the halo) is now a new transfer student in his class. She immediately recognizes Yuusuke and calls out his name. When he attempts to sneak back home after school, she follows him. When he tells her to stop following him, she calmly agrees and walks away. However when Yuusuke arrives at where his house should be he almost passes it because it is now replaced by a multilevel brightly colored monstrosity. Complete with the cute anime Munsters equivalent moving in. Out of this bursts Noelle. She and Yuusuke are going to live together. Here we get to meet the family - the Frankenstein father, the beautiful-witch mother, the vampire Gabriel older brother, the mecha-freak dark-elf younger sister Ruka, the coy and shy invisible elder sister Sara, and the inimitable grandmother who knows this human (Yuusuke) means doom.
If this family were all there was to the story it could get tiring very quickly. However into this mix we throw the mystery of the three eggs, the twisted Despair who wants Noelle to be his angel, Suzuhara Natsume, the girl Yuusuke has a painful crush on, and the mysterious Michael with his book of dreams that more gets written in it at the end of each episode. Oh, and just wait until they start telling Sara-neechan's part of the story.
It entertains. It amuses. It makes you wonder just how zany the next episode will be. Where is it going? For about 25 minutes everything is okay.
The series is also amazingly well animated. The motion is fluid and smooth. The backgrounds while simple are vivid and generally well placed. A lot of effort was put into this series and it is evident. The background music, while not everyone's cup of tea, suits the show well. It is bouncy and catchy and if you are not careful you may find yourself humming it later that day.
This TV anime is recommended if you are able to tolerate (or enjoy) cute and silly shows. If you are not into the zany and weird then you best steer clear of TENSHI NI NARU MON.

Availability:
On the air in Japan now - Television Tokyo, Wednesday
from 6pm to 6:30pm (episode 14 aired on 1999.07.07)

Video release:
Volume 1 7/25/99, 2 episodes
Volume 2 9/99, 3 episodes
Remaining volumes once per month
DVD: BCBA-0203 (Dolby digital - stereo)
LD: BELL-1413 (stereo)
VHS: BES-2357 (stereo)
¥5800 (volume 1) ¥6000 (remaining volumes)
Where to buy